[Blogger Foreword: Dottie Summerlin sent me this via the e-mail connected to the blog and asked me to send it out. I am happy to do that but am computer inept enough that if there is an easy way to do it, I don't know what it is. So Dottie's message follows.]
It is with great sadness that Nancy Tafel & I are suspending the free Clothing Giveaway until we can find another venue. We have limited space in the 2 small rooms we rent for the Giveaway & we have been using a larger room for sorting/hanging up/storage. We have been asked not to use the large room due to a non-functional fire escape. Thus, since we cannot possibly accommodate our many clients in 2 tiny rooms --75-100 in one Giveawayh--we must look for a new home.
We are looking for a space that would be on one level--no steps, but an elevator would be OK (ironic, isn't it?) We need at least 1200 sq. feet, 1500 would be ideal. We currently pay $976.00 a year for the 2 small rooms. We take in no money other than the 8 cents per pound from the St. Paulie bin alongside Mantua Center Christian Church which are the bags of clothes that are not taken at the Giveaway. If you, or anyone you know, may have a space for us, please pass along my email or Nancy's email: nursenancylpn@aol.com
We feel this ministry is vital to Mantua & the surrounding communities so we need to find a place ASAP. The next Giveaway was scheduled for Saturday, May 19th, after that July 21, Sept. 15, & Nov. 17th.
Thank you!
Dottie Summerlin
[Dottie's email: drs52652@gmail.com]
Saturday, April 14, 2018
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
News about the Clothing Giveaway
[Blogger Foreword: The greatest part of the April 5 trustees meeting was the discussion between Grants and Funding Committee chairperson Terrie Nielsen and the trustees about the status of the elevator and bell tower projects. That was lengthy and will be its own post. The topic of this post is shorter, and as I understand it, various things are already floating around about it.
[Here is what happened in the April 5 trustees meeting regarding the clothing giveaway.]
Jason: [This is about] Matt Roosa (MSFD Chief) regardiong the fire recall system. [I am/we are] trying to get everyone on the same page.
He went yesterday and I got a message from him to call. He wanted to meet at the school. There seems to be another reason. I went today with Vic.
We have some serious issues with the clothing giveaway space. For one thing, they are utilizing the east room, and clothes are stacked 4 feet high along the walls. We are not even renting that room to them--they are just using it.
Matt Roosa said that is an extreme fire load for the building. They must abandon that room and we have to notify Nancy Tafel that they have to abandon that room. It is a situation that there is so much stuff in the room that there is only one way to get out and the escape stairs are not built yet.
They are utilizing the two adjoining rooms and then things started to spill out. Carts were put in the hall but that is not acceptable.
Vic: Later today I talked with Matt Roosa about exit lights and smoke detectors. [By the way, if you need smoke detectors, go to the Fire Department.]
Jason: I don't think the two rooms they have now are too overly loaded, but I don't want this to be that they can't use the room. . . .
Vic: The one door was just installed because of the elevator. I will remove that. I would like to use the credit card for stamps and some other supplies. (Betsy Wolfe needs some of these things for working on the zoning.)
John Festa: We don't want to get on the wrong side of the Fire Department.
Vic: He is doing his job.
John Festa: If he had been doing official work, it would have been different.
[Blogger: My understanding of that comment is that if Matt's visit to the school had been an official inspection, we would have a serious issue on our hands. As it is, he was there for something else, saw this problem, and advised us about it.]
The meeting moved on to other things at this point.
[Here is what happened in the April 5 trustees meeting regarding the clothing giveaway.]
Jason: [This is about] Matt Roosa (MSFD Chief) regardiong the fire recall system. [I am/we are] trying to get everyone on the same page.
He went yesterday and I got a message from him to call. He wanted to meet at the school. There seems to be another reason. I went today with Vic.
We have some serious issues with the clothing giveaway space. For one thing, they are utilizing the east room, and clothes are stacked 4 feet high along the walls. We are not even renting that room to them--they are just using it.
Matt Roosa said that is an extreme fire load for the building. They must abandon that room and we have to notify Nancy Tafel that they have to abandon that room. It is a situation that there is so much stuff in the room that there is only one way to get out and the escape stairs are not built yet.
They are utilizing the two adjoining rooms and then things started to spill out. Carts were put in the hall but that is not acceptable.
Vic: Later today I talked with Matt Roosa about exit lights and smoke detectors. [By the way, if you need smoke detectors, go to the Fire Department.]
Jason: I don't think the two rooms they have now are too overly loaded, but I don't want this to be that they can't use the room. . . .
Vic: The one door was just installed because of the elevator. I will remove that. I would like to use the credit card for stamps and some other supplies. (Betsy Wolfe needs some of these things for working on the zoning.)
John Festa: We don't want to get on the wrong side of the Fire Department.
Vic: He is doing his job.
John Festa: If he had been doing official work, it would have been different.
[Blogger: My understanding of that comment is that if Matt's visit to the school had been an official inspection, we would have a serious issue on our hands. As it is, he was there for something else, saw this problem, and advised us about it.]
The meeting moved on to other things at this point.
"Bulletin Board" : Restoration Soc. Annual Meeting; Cleanup Day
Annual Meeting, The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc.
The annual meeting of The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., is Saturday, April 28, at the Mantua Center School building, 11741 Mantua Center Road.
Time: Gather at noon for light refreshments.
The meeting will begin at 1:00 to hear a summary of the past year and elect officers for 2018.
Terrie Vechery has agreed to be the speaker. This looked like a good time to discuss how we got here, where we are, and where we are planning/hoping to go. "We" actually applies to the school building. Terrie is the person with the continuity of experience to give that overview.
After the meeting and the speaker, members can re-join, new members can get on board, and additional donations from those who are so moved will be enthusiastically welcomed.
As always, we will share potluck and fellowship after the regular meeting. It may be possible to take a peek at the elevator installation to date, but that will depend on what safety regulations permit.
Everyone is welcome. The school belongs to the township--meaning it belongs to all of us, and we are finally approaching being able to begin using it as was envisioned when the trustees purchased it in 2004.
It has been a long haul, but a lot has been accomplished, and you--member of the restoration society or not--have contributed to that by attending restoration society events, being members, or donating to the cause..
Come and celebrate--and maybe it will be spring by then.
Township Cleanup Day
Saturday, May 5, is the annual Township Cleanup Day. It will run from 7:30 a.m. til 3:00 or when the dumpsters are full, whatever comes first.
Place: Just across the road from the Township Garage on Mantua Center Road.
Tires can be dropped off at --I think-- no charge. In the past, if there was a charge, it was $2.00 per tire.
Some guidelines: No kitchen trash--meaning no garbage.
Come prepared to help unload your vehicle or trailer. There has been some joking about advising people load a trailer with all kinds of heavy stuff and then sending the oldest, feeblest member of the family to bring it to the site to be unloaded by others.
I believe that traffic will be one way from the Pioneer Trail intersection and routed north on Center Road for the safety of the people working around the dumpsters. There will be equipment working as well as people on foot. Everyone is concentrating on the trash and the dumpsters, not on some self-centered jerk bulling south on Center Road because s/he is angry that for one day a year traffic is one way for part of the day.
That last snarky comment is based on the experience of working at the Diagonal Road/Center Road intersection to keep people from heading south. You would have thought we were asking them to give blood or sacrifice a child, or something. Sheesh!
The annual meeting of The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., is Saturday, April 28, at the Mantua Center School building, 11741 Mantua Center Road.
Time: Gather at noon for light refreshments.
The meeting will begin at 1:00 to hear a summary of the past year and elect officers for 2018.
Terrie Vechery has agreed to be the speaker. This looked like a good time to discuss how we got here, where we are, and where we are planning/hoping to go. "We" actually applies to the school building. Terrie is the person with the continuity of experience to give that overview.
After the meeting and the speaker, members can re-join, new members can get on board, and additional donations from those who are so moved will be enthusiastically welcomed.
As always, we will share potluck and fellowship after the regular meeting. It may be possible to take a peek at the elevator installation to date, but that will depend on what safety regulations permit.
Everyone is welcome. The school belongs to the township--meaning it belongs to all of us, and we are finally approaching being able to begin using it as was envisioned when the trustees purchased it in 2004.
It has been a long haul, but a lot has been accomplished, and you--member of the restoration society or not--have contributed to that by attending restoration society events, being members, or donating to the cause..
Come and celebrate--and maybe it will be spring by then.
Township Cleanup Day
Saturday, May 5, is the annual Township Cleanup Day. It will run from 7:30 a.m. til 3:00 or when the dumpsters are full, whatever comes first.
Place: Just across the road from the Township Garage on Mantua Center Road.
Tires can be dropped off at --I think-- no charge. In the past, if there was a charge, it was $2.00 per tire.
Some guidelines: No kitchen trash--meaning no garbage.
Come prepared to help unload your vehicle or trailer. There has been some joking about advising people load a trailer with all kinds of heavy stuff and then sending the oldest, feeblest member of the family to bring it to the site to be unloaded by others.
I believe that traffic will be one way from the Pioneer Trail intersection and routed north on Center Road for the safety of the people working around the dumpsters. There will be equipment working as well as people on foot. Everyone is concentrating on the trash and the dumpsters, not on some self-centered jerk bulling south on Center Road because s/he is angry that for one day a year traffic is one way for part of the day.
That last snarky comment is based on the experience of working at the Diagonal Road/Center Road intersection to keep people from heading south. You would have thought we were asking them to give blood or sacrifice a child, or something. Sheesh!
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Trustees 3-15-18, Part 2
Club and Committee Reports
Next to be called on was The Mantua Restoration Society. Your faithful blogger handled that.
Carole Pollard: A couple of things: We began discussing the NOPEC community grant. We thought there was not enough time for an Easter egg hunt, and this year, we could be knee deep in snow. [Or mud, now that things are thawing out--3/28.] So we are working on that. We are going to meet on Monday and discuss it.
The other thing is that Vic contacted me and asked about whether we could pay for the work that Terry Hronek has just done. I have that information for you.
[I gave that information to the trustees: A copy of the invoice, plus a copy of the check from The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., to Terry for $212.00 and some change.]
Vic: MaRSI paid for the flooring, and Terry Hronek installed it. The elevator floor is ready to be put in. [Blogger: I think that is what Vic said. It was very hard to pick up what any of us said on the recording.]
John Festa and Jason both thanked MaRSI, and John suggested that we should probably get a letter acknowledging the payment to Terry.
Garden Club, Sue Skrovan: The first meeting is next week, and we will set plans for the year. We will have a bulb sale we will be working on.
LCA, Amy Janca: We had an organization meeting and elected a new secretary and treasurer.
New Business
John Festa: A couple of things to talk about--Zoning Commission and BZA. I see that an organizational meeting is scheduled for the 19th for the BZA. How many people do we have on it?
Vic: Four. We will have one vacancy and we can put another alternate on.
Jason: BZA is only down one.
Vic: There may be someone else applying to the zoning board also. I learned that two days ago.
Jason: Bob Stehli--his term will be up next year, and this will likely be his last term.
John Festa: So we will discuss a couple of appointments for Zoning Commission at executive session.
[Blogger: Discussion of the website followed. The most important information regarding that is in the beginning of the previous post. I will include a little of the discussion here.]
Jason: I think Brent should give us the courtesy of a written letter. Also we ought to have a list of things that amount to file cleanup.
[He ran through a list of things that should be posted on the site. John Festa had noting else, but Jason clarified that he (John) would contact Brent for answers to some of their questions. Answer: Yes.]
Vic: I received a bid for the roller, which I haven't opened yet. A couple of other people are interested in it.
The other thing is that we have an agreement with Portage County Recycling with Robin Trailer Park. They set a bin by the mailboxes, and they have asked us if we want to sign this [agreement ]
The managers said it is getting used.
He presented the paperwork to be signed.
Jason made a motion to amend the agreement with the Portage County Solid Waste District as described. It was seconded and approved.
Vic, to John Festa: You asked about the license agreement. It ran out on March 1 and is still in the hands of the bank. So do we want to extend that March 1? [This is the license agreement about the driveway for the house at the edge of the bull pen.]
JF: I sent Chris Meduri an e-mail last Thursday notifying him that the agreement was null and void, but he has not answered.
Vic: It is still in the hands of the bank.
JF: But the agreement states clearly that it is null and vioc [as of March 1]. If he can send his opinion to all three of us.
Vic: Sure. Here is the latest on the water damage [in the school building]. This is from the adjuster. He is going to submit it today. It is just an update. Now it goes to the insurance company. It totals $44,000.
The other thing I have is spring cleanup. I was going to get 10 dumpsters this year. We were short last year. We are on target for tires/
[There was some discussion and explanation from Vic to John Festa about how the financial parts of the operation work.]
JF: Should we do more advertising this year? Last year we were filled up by 3 o'clock. Should we advertise starting at 7:00 and run until 3 p.m. or until full?
Vic: That sounds good.
There was some discussion about how much help the trustees and volunteers should give unloading what was brought and putting it into the dumpsters, and maybe having some kind of signage so that people know they should help.
Jason: Baseball: One group wants to use the field closest to the Civic Center. I got a quote from a porta-john company. The question is what is the easiest way to do that: does the company bill us and we pay and then the baseball folks pay us?
Also, the porta-john at the cemetery will be there beginning April 15.
Old Business
John Festa: There will be a pre-bid meeting tomorrow for the Civic Center roof. I sent out 30 letters and received 6 back. I expect 10-15 people. The legal ad is running two times.
He then presented a letter from Olde Taylor Woods. The residents are looking for some help dealing with the entrance. This is about widening it. They are going to be proactive about maintaining the roads we repaired. They are going to see about getting bids from the trash companies and getting only one business dealing with that to reduce the amount of heavy truck traffic.
Jason: I have asked Brian Tayerle to come up with a list of chip and seal roads. We would like to do at least 5 miles of chip and seal and get the kettle for crack seal. Those are our highest priorities. What the county is going to do will be very late summer. As far as doing any paving in there [Olde Taylor Woods], there are sections in back that need it more than the entry.
Vic: The best thing they can do is get rid of the little entrance island.
JF: Multiple haulers beat up the roads, and the trucks are so full they spill trash all over.
The last thing I have is I still have not approached the [?] office. [Blogger: I missed that word. It may be the Building Department Office.]
I [JF] still have too many questions. I do not know why they took the fire recall out of the bid and put it on the township. The money was there. All we had to do was leave it there and those two things would have been paid for. I have a lot of problems over that and that is why I did not pursue the fire safety.
Neither Jason nor Vic had any old business. There was a little discussion among the trustees about insurance.
Jason made a motion to accept Kasmarik Insurance Dental and Vision as proposed in Plan #5. Seconded and passed.
There was another motion dealing with insurance, made and passed. It dealt with an HRA, and your faithful blogger does not know what that acronym stands for.
Public Comment
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: My last thing is not really about the township but I wasn't really kidding about the concrete because if you guys can find a way to get it to my place, I would be willing to pay a reasonable fee to deliver it to my place. I can make good use of it. [This was something that I did not put into the earlier post. There is broken up concrete paving material that has to be disposed of, and Dave commented that there were plenty of spots on his place that could use something to fill them.]
I am sure you saw about the pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Florida. It had only been put up Saturday. A few years ago, people died in Minnesota when a bridge collapsed. I saw a TV show several years ago about a 100-year-old bridge that people marvel about being so strong. An engineer talked about just building it "strong enough." I am glad our building there [the school] was built before that philosophy came in. We don't have to worry about that building falling down.
Mr. Festa, you are right about the trash trucks spilling things and Kimble is the worst. The blue trash bags can be used again, taken to Heinen's and recycled.
I don't know what to say about Olde Taylor Woods--I saw how vehicles turn short there.
The world today suffered a loss when Stephen Hawking died. A friend of mine died of Lou Gehrig's disease. Stephen Hawking had that disease for over 50 years and has contributed tremendous amounts to the world. I hope that some one will find a cure for that.
Public Comment ended here, and I left. I do not know if there was an executive session to discuss zoning appointments.
Next to be called on was The Mantua Restoration Society. Your faithful blogger handled that.
Carole Pollard: A couple of things: We began discussing the NOPEC community grant. We thought there was not enough time for an Easter egg hunt, and this year, we could be knee deep in snow. [Or mud, now that things are thawing out--3/28.] So we are working on that. We are going to meet on Monday and discuss it.
The other thing is that Vic contacted me and asked about whether we could pay for the work that Terry Hronek has just done. I have that information for you.
[I gave that information to the trustees: A copy of the invoice, plus a copy of the check from The Mantua Restoration Society, Inc., to Terry for $212.00 and some change.]
Vic: MaRSI paid for the flooring, and Terry Hronek installed it. The elevator floor is ready to be put in. [Blogger: I think that is what Vic said. It was very hard to pick up what any of us said on the recording.]
John Festa and Jason both thanked MaRSI, and John suggested that we should probably get a letter acknowledging the payment to Terry.
Garden Club, Sue Skrovan: The first meeting is next week, and we will set plans for the year. We will have a bulb sale we will be working on.
LCA, Amy Janca: We had an organization meeting and elected a new secretary and treasurer.
New Business
John Festa: A couple of things to talk about--Zoning Commission and BZA. I see that an organizational meeting is scheduled for the 19th for the BZA. How many people do we have on it?
Vic: Four. We will have one vacancy and we can put another alternate on.
Jason: BZA is only down one.
Vic: There may be someone else applying to the zoning board also. I learned that two days ago.
Jason: Bob Stehli--his term will be up next year, and this will likely be his last term.
John Festa: So we will discuss a couple of appointments for Zoning Commission at executive session.
[Blogger: Discussion of the website followed. The most important information regarding that is in the beginning of the previous post. I will include a little of the discussion here.]
Jason: I think Brent should give us the courtesy of a written letter. Also we ought to have a list of things that amount to file cleanup.
[He ran through a list of things that should be posted on the site. John Festa had noting else, but Jason clarified that he (John) would contact Brent for answers to some of their questions. Answer: Yes.]
Vic: I received a bid for the roller, which I haven't opened yet. A couple of other people are interested in it.
The other thing is that we have an agreement with Portage County Recycling with Robin Trailer Park. They set a bin by the mailboxes, and they have asked us if we want to sign this [agreement ]
The managers said it is getting used.
He presented the paperwork to be signed.
Jason made a motion to amend the agreement with the Portage County Solid Waste District as described. It was seconded and approved.
Vic, to John Festa: You asked about the license agreement. It ran out on March 1 and is still in the hands of the bank. So do we want to extend that March 1? [This is the license agreement about the driveway for the house at the edge of the bull pen.]
JF: I sent Chris Meduri an e-mail last Thursday notifying him that the agreement was null and void, but he has not answered.
Vic: It is still in the hands of the bank.
JF: But the agreement states clearly that it is null and vioc [as of March 1]. If he can send his opinion to all three of us.
Vic: Sure. Here is the latest on the water damage [in the school building]. This is from the adjuster. He is going to submit it today. It is just an update. Now it goes to the insurance company. It totals $44,000.
The other thing I have is spring cleanup. I was going to get 10 dumpsters this year. We were short last year. We are on target for tires/
[There was some discussion and explanation from Vic to John Festa about how the financial parts of the operation work.]
JF: Should we do more advertising this year? Last year we were filled up by 3 o'clock. Should we advertise starting at 7:00 and run until 3 p.m. or until full?
Vic: That sounds good.
There was some discussion about how much help the trustees and volunteers should give unloading what was brought and putting it into the dumpsters, and maybe having some kind of signage so that people know they should help.
Jason: Baseball: One group wants to use the field closest to the Civic Center. I got a quote from a porta-john company. The question is what is the easiest way to do that: does the company bill us and we pay and then the baseball folks pay us?
Also, the porta-john at the cemetery will be there beginning April 15.
Old Business
John Festa: There will be a pre-bid meeting tomorrow for the Civic Center roof. I sent out 30 letters and received 6 back. I expect 10-15 people. The legal ad is running two times.
He then presented a letter from Olde Taylor Woods. The residents are looking for some help dealing with the entrance. This is about widening it. They are going to be proactive about maintaining the roads we repaired. They are going to see about getting bids from the trash companies and getting only one business dealing with that to reduce the amount of heavy truck traffic.
Jason: I have asked Brian Tayerle to come up with a list of chip and seal roads. We would like to do at least 5 miles of chip and seal and get the kettle for crack seal. Those are our highest priorities. What the county is going to do will be very late summer. As far as doing any paving in there [Olde Taylor Woods], there are sections in back that need it more than the entry.
Vic: The best thing they can do is get rid of the little entrance island.
JF: Multiple haulers beat up the roads, and the trucks are so full they spill trash all over.
The last thing I have is I still have not approached the [?] office. [Blogger: I missed that word. It may be the Building Department Office.]
I [JF] still have too many questions. I do not know why they took the fire recall out of the bid and put it on the township. The money was there. All we had to do was leave it there and those two things would have been paid for. I have a lot of problems over that and that is why I did not pursue the fire safety.
Neither Jason nor Vic had any old business. There was a little discussion among the trustees about insurance.
Jason made a motion to accept Kasmarik Insurance Dental and Vision as proposed in Plan #5. Seconded and passed.
There was another motion dealing with insurance, made and passed. It dealt with an HRA, and your faithful blogger does not know what that acronym stands for.
Public Comment
Dave Pollard, S.R. 82: My last thing is not really about the township but I wasn't really kidding about the concrete because if you guys can find a way to get it to my place, I would be willing to pay a reasonable fee to deliver it to my place. I can make good use of it. [This was something that I did not put into the earlier post. There is broken up concrete paving material that has to be disposed of, and Dave commented that there were plenty of spots on his place that could use something to fill them.]
I am sure you saw about the pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Florida. It had only been put up Saturday. A few years ago, people died in Minnesota when a bridge collapsed. I saw a TV show several years ago about a 100-year-old bridge that people marvel about being so strong. An engineer talked about just building it "strong enough." I am glad our building there [the school] was built before that philosophy came in. We don't have to worry about that building falling down.
Mr. Festa, you are right about the trash trucks spilling things and Kimble is the worst. The blue trash bags can be used again, taken to Heinen's and recycled.
I don't know what to say about Olde Taylor Woods--I saw how vehicles turn short there.
The world today suffered a loss when Stephen Hawking died. A friend of mine died of Lou Gehrig's disease. Stephen Hawking had that disease for over 50 years and has contributed tremendous amounts to the world. I hope that some one will find a cure for that.
Public Comment ended here, and I left. I do not know if there was an executive session to discuss zoning appointments.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Trustees 3-15-18
Blogger Foreword: During the meeting, John Festa raised the issue of the township website, which needs a new webmaster. Chairman Festa said that no minutes had been posted since August 2017. Two people would be responsible for what goes on the website: the fiscal officer, who would give the information to the webmaster, and Brent Simon, the webmaster. I was unaware of the stagnant status of the website because I don't look at it. Attending the meetings and then doing the blog is enough, already. At a DMRC meeting the week before, it was announced that Brent was not going to be handling websites any more. (I think that's correct, and that is what I added during the trustees meeting.)
Be all that as it may, minutes and financial information are not on the website, as I have been advising readers. Anyone who wants them will have to make a records request of the fiscal officer, Jodie Thompson. The minutes (a few copies, anyhow) are usually available on meeting nights, the first and third Thursdays of the month at the Mantua Township Hall, 7:30 p.m. usually. Special meetings or workshops or other business which does not fall under the regular meeting may bump the start to an earlier time.
At the beginning of the meeting, Jodie announced that the fee for the .gov suffix on the township's website is now $400 per year. The motion to approve that was seconded and passed.
There was a discussion about the budget commission and our appropriations.
Road Department: The salt for the rest of the year is now on hand. Various patching is being done. The backhoe is apparently still in the shop being diagnosed.
Brian Tayerle also asked about the culvert pipe on Center Road; John Festa opined that it was probably not urgent at present.
Brian: Are we just going to plug it back up?
Answer: She [Sue Lilley] is supposed to get us an order of some kind from 1977.
Brian clarified that nothing was to be done without that paperwork, and John Festa confirmed that.
Jason commented on the conflicting views about the situation: no one knows why it was plugged in the first place, . . . and one resident is anxious because it is plugged.
Vic: It has been backing up on their property. But then Sue Lilley said that person was not in the conservancy. But all of them are in the watershed. I would say wait and see what happens with the report. He described how the water flows.
John Festa: Their argument now is that 4-5 other people are flooding.
Jason: Under new business--I wanted to tell Brian Tayerle that we should probably have a driver license check and a driver history report just to keep everything up to date and we have records of it.
John Festa asked Sue Skrovan about zoning.
Sue: The zoning commission wanted me to let you know that they are grateful for the increase in their pay.
Fire Board, Jason: There is continued staffing activity. Hiring a full time fire fighter. Someone was hired full time because he was going to the Cleveland Fire Academy. We accepted his resignation but now he wants his job back. This is a constant struggle because we do not have enough full time fire fighters. The full time guys work a lot of overtime and that balloons up the overhead. A new chase vehicle is under consideration. Also, about the new roof on the Civic Center: Matt Roosa would inspect that.
Regional Planning, Vic: I did not go to the meeting last night. I picked up the binder with all of the bills and change orders in it [for the elevator project]. I have it with me for you to look at to see how it corresponds [with our records].
John Festa: I am not in favor of going to a meeting at Portage County Regional Planning. This information is important to a lot of people here. A lot of people worked hard to raise the money and I think that what is going on should be a public meeting.
Vic: I think the idea was to have it there so if we needed more information, it would be right there.
[Blogger: My understanding is that here is half a file drawer of records just for the elevator project.]
John Festa: I would rather not ask them there, but in a public meeting. I have lots of concerns about the project. If you guys want to go get the bills, that would be OK. What will they tell us there that they can't tell us in public? [Blogger: Eh?] We have a lot of money we owe, and a lot of people have put in work and earned the money.
Vic: It's all in the binder. I will be in Ravenna tomorrow.
John Festa: I can[t go on Tuesday. If the two of you want to do that, go.
Jason: I also think that we are going to need to have a public meeting to discuss all of the findings and likely Regional Planning as well, but it is tou gh because Regional Planning was the administrator and so I don't know how much we can put them on the hot seat for this. We have asked them to gather information. I am not sure if things went awry we can't point fingers at them. [He
gave examples.] If we think something was done incorrectly, we should probably talk to our legal counsel and ot to them.
John Festa: If you guys want to go Tuesday . . . .
Vic: I can ask them if they can come to a meeting.
Jason: We could have a special meeting [after we have talked with them.]
Beautification Committee, Amy Janca: Amy presented a diagram of the design for a sign proposed for the bullpen.
Amy: We want to carry the same theme as in the rest of the community--black iron signs. We thought it would be nice to have a sign like that [the one at the cemetery] on the bullpen that says Mantua Township. The design will not be quite as ornate as the cemetery sign. Ten feet wide and six feet tall. It would be in a V configuration so it can be seen from both directions. [She also said something about stone and a large urn.]
She explained some of the details. Materials have been lined up and groundwork done.
Jason: You thought wrought iron?
Answer: Black but not necessarily iron.
Jason: Gold lettering?
Amy: I think there was some [gold paint] left that Jim Aldrich gave Vic.
Vic: It looks close to the utility pole and that is close to the right of way.
Amy took issue with that.
Vic: I would like to have room for two small trees.
[At this point, as is her habit, Amy began talking over Vic, but what was intelligible sounded like this:]
We thought two small spruce . . . it will be set back behind the right of way setback.
Vic: Does Jim Aldrich know where the location is?
Answer: Yes.
Vic: Then I want to meet with Jim. You can go ahead and work on the design
Amy talked over him again.
Vic clarified that it would not be ornamental steel.
John Festa: There is no plan to light this thing?
Amy: Yes. She referred to Frank Horack. He apparently recommended trenching and laying lighting wire underground for the Christmas lights and could do this as well.
Vic: I met with the forestry guy a couple of years ago about replacing trees. I can go along with starting the sign but when it comes to placement, I want to see that.
John Festa: I have no problem with the sign.
Vic: I want to make sure it is far enough back and when we plant trees, they will not get too much salt damage. Behind the pole is the right of way.
He confirmed with Brian Tayerle that there was gold paint left.
[Blogger: I have enjoyed as much of this as I can stand and am going to stop here for now.]
Be all that as it may, minutes and financial information are not on the website, as I have been advising readers. Anyone who wants them will have to make a records request of the fiscal officer, Jodie Thompson. The minutes (a few copies, anyhow) are usually available on meeting nights, the first and third Thursdays of the month at the Mantua Township Hall, 7:30 p.m. usually. Special meetings or workshops or other business which does not fall under the regular meeting may bump the start to an earlier time.
At the beginning of the meeting, Jodie announced that the fee for the .gov suffix on the township's website is now $400 per year. The motion to approve that was seconded and passed.
There was a discussion about the budget commission and our appropriations.
Road Department: The salt for the rest of the year is now on hand. Various patching is being done. The backhoe is apparently still in the shop being diagnosed.
Brian Tayerle also asked about the culvert pipe on Center Road; John Festa opined that it was probably not urgent at present.
Brian: Are we just going to plug it back up?
Answer: She [Sue Lilley] is supposed to get us an order of some kind from 1977.
Brian clarified that nothing was to be done without that paperwork, and John Festa confirmed that.
Jason commented on the conflicting views about the situation: no one knows why it was plugged in the first place, . . . and one resident is anxious because it is plugged.
Vic: It has been backing up on their property. But then Sue Lilley said that person was not in the conservancy. But all of them are in the watershed. I would say wait and see what happens with the report. He described how the water flows.
John Festa: Their argument now is that 4-5 other people are flooding.
Jason: Under new business--I wanted to tell Brian Tayerle that we should probably have a driver license check and a driver history report just to keep everything up to date and we have records of it.
John Festa asked Sue Skrovan about zoning.
Sue: The zoning commission wanted me to let you know that they are grateful for the increase in their pay.
Fire Board, Jason: There is continued staffing activity. Hiring a full time fire fighter. Someone was hired full time because he was going to the Cleveland Fire Academy. We accepted his resignation but now he wants his job back. This is a constant struggle because we do not have enough full time fire fighters. The full time guys work a lot of overtime and that balloons up the overhead. A new chase vehicle is under consideration. Also, about the new roof on the Civic Center: Matt Roosa would inspect that.
Regional Planning, Vic: I did not go to the meeting last night. I picked up the binder with all of the bills and change orders in it [for the elevator project]. I have it with me for you to look at to see how it corresponds [with our records].
John Festa: I am not in favor of going to a meeting at Portage County Regional Planning. This information is important to a lot of people here. A lot of people worked hard to raise the money and I think that what is going on should be a public meeting.
Vic: I think the idea was to have it there so if we needed more information, it would be right there.
[Blogger: My understanding is that here is half a file drawer of records just for the elevator project.]
John Festa: I would rather not ask them there, but in a public meeting. I have lots of concerns about the project. If you guys want to go get the bills, that would be OK. What will they tell us there that they can't tell us in public? [Blogger: Eh?] We have a lot of money we owe, and a lot of people have put in work and earned the money.
Vic: It's all in the binder. I will be in Ravenna tomorrow.
John Festa: I can[t go on Tuesday. If the two of you want to do that, go.
Jason: I also think that we are going to need to have a public meeting to discuss all of the findings and likely Regional Planning as well, but it is tou gh because Regional Planning was the administrator and so I don't know how much we can put them on the hot seat for this. We have asked them to gather information. I am not sure if things went awry we can't point fingers at them. [He
gave examples.] If we think something was done incorrectly, we should probably talk to our legal counsel and ot to them.
John Festa: If you guys want to go Tuesday . . . .
Vic: I can ask them if they can come to a meeting.
Jason: We could have a special meeting [after we have talked with them.]
Beautification Committee, Amy Janca: Amy presented a diagram of the design for a sign proposed for the bullpen.
Amy: We want to carry the same theme as in the rest of the community--black iron signs. We thought it would be nice to have a sign like that [the one at the cemetery] on the bullpen that says Mantua Township. The design will not be quite as ornate as the cemetery sign. Ten feet wide and six feet tall. It would be in a V configuration so it can be seen from both directions. [She also said something about stone and a large urn.]
She explained some of the details. Materials have been lined up and groundwork done.
Jason: You thought wrought iron?
Answer: Black but not necessarily iron.
Jason: Gold lettering?
Amy: I think there was some [gold paint] left that Jim Aldrich gave Vic.
Vic: It looks close to the utility pole and that is close to the right of way.
Amy took issue with that.
Vic: I would like to have room for two small trees.
[At this point, as is her habit, Amy began talking over Vic, but what was intelligible sounded like this:]
We thought two small spruce . . . it will be set back behind the right of way setback.
Vic: Does Jim Aldrich know where the location is?
Answer: Yes.
Vic: Then I want to meet with Jim. You can go ahead and work on the design
Amy talked over him again.
Vic clarified that it would not be ornamental steel.
John Festa: There is no plan to light this thing?
Amy: Yes. She referred to Frank Horack. He apparently recommended trenching and laying lighting wire underground for the Christmas lights and could do this as well.
Vic: I met with the forestry guy a couple of years ago about replacing trees. I can go along with starting the sign but when it comes to placement, I want to see that.
John Festa: I have no problem with the sign.
Vic: I want to make sure it is far enough back and when we plant trees, they will not get too much salt damage. Behind the pole is the right of way.
He confirmed with Brian Tayerle that there was gold paint left.
[Blogger: I have enjoyed as much of this as I can stand and am going to stop here for now.]
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Trustees 3-1: Task Force for community center; public comment
[Blogger Foreword: Another correction, a small one. The signing date for the license agreement about the bull pen/driveway issue was actually March 1. March and April and October and November are months that I have to slow down and think about when I just use numbers to identify them. My notes have 4/1, but that is incorrect. The actual status of that agreement, as indicated in the blog, is unknown. The meeting this week may have clarification. Vic has been trying to contact the bank to see if the papers have been signed, since the sale is contingent upon that--if I understand that correctly.]
Old Business
Jason: The Task Force [for a community center at the school]. Last Friday I was on a conference call with Jay Schabel, Chris Meduri, and Chad Murdock. I think we got a lot squared away. Chris had a lot of questions for Chad. Chris thought it would be a true community center--fitness and community activities. He wanted some pretty good detail and sent an e-mail with things for the task force to respond to.
Jay Schabel thought he had sent it last Monday. No decisions are being made--this was just to clear the air. Chad has also redone the rental agreement according to Chris Meduri's requirements. There will be another conference call tomorrow [Friday, March 2].
Handing copies to the other trustees: Take a look at this and let me know if you have any questions. I think we made more traction last Friday than we had while we were going back and forth. [That phrasing is awkward but what is in my notes. In the scramble to keep up, I may have written something a bit wrong. The meaning and intent are clear, however.]
There are no surprises--what they want to use the building for and the nature of the activities.
Jason, continuing, with the NOPEC grant update: I watched the video about the $1500 grant for communities. NOPEC is not going to write a check to Mantua Township. They will write a check to an organization in the community that would take the donation money, e.g., Summerfest, Summer in the City. These are for free, open-to-the-public events.
[Jason mentioned MaRSI as a possible township representative partner with [such a] community event.]
Jason: Also, Amy Janca sent an e-mail about an Easter egg hunt. These things bring in a lot of kids. Amy had proposed it to the historical society.
Also, Fortune Wireless: that meeting is scheduled for March 8 at the Civic Center. [As of this post, that meeting is history.]
Vic commented that it should last 2-3 hours. Fortune Wireless is renting the facility as an outside agency.
Vic: I don't have anything else. The school building insurance--I sent him some information, and we will meet next week.
[Blogger: The discussion with James Martin began at this point in the meeting (around 8:50, give or take a few minutes.) He left at 9:17, and public comment began.]
Public Comment
Terry Hronek: When you give zoning and other employees a badge, you can't necessarily roll up on private property if there is a No Trespassing sign. John Dickey got into a bit of a problem on that. Chris Meduri had to get involved in that.
Vic: I have had Pete Tosi talk to Chris Meduri about that.
Carole Pollard: The gist of my comment was that, in light of all that had gone on in this meeting, there was nothing that ought to be added to the proceedings.
Public Comment ended about 9:25. The weather had turned vile, and your faithful blogger came home.
Old Business
Jason: The Task Force [for a community center at the school]. Last Friday I was on a conference call with Jay Schabel, Chris Meduri, and Chad Murdock. I think we got a lot squared away. Chris had a lot of questions for Chad. Chris thought it would be a true community center--fitness and community activities. He wanted some pretty good detail and sent an e-mail with things for the task force to respond to.
Jay Schabel thought he had sent it last Monday. No decisions are being made--this was just to clear the air. Chad has also redone the rental agreement according to Chris Meduri's requirements. There will be another conference call tomorrow [Friday, March 2].
Handing copies to the other trustees: Take a look at this and let me know if you have any questions. I think we made more traction last Friday than we had while we were going back and forth. [That phrasing is awkward but what is in my notes. In the scramble to keep up, I may have written something a bit wrong. The meaning and intent are clear, however.]
There are no surprises--what they want to use the building for and the nature of the activities.
Jason, continuing, with the NOPEC grant update: I watched the video about the $1500 grant for communities. NOPEC is not going to write a check to Mantua Township. They will write a check to an organization in the community that would take the donation money, e.g., Summerfest, Summer in the City. These are for free, open-to-the-public events.
[Jason mentioned MaRSI as a possible township representative partner with [such a] community event.]
Jason: Also, Amy Janca sent an e-mail about an Easter egg hunt. These things bring in a lot of kids. Amy had proposed it to the historical society.
Also, Fortune Wireless: that meeting is scheduled for March 8 at the Civic Center. [As of this post, that meeting is history.]
Vic commented that it should last 2-3 hours. Fortune Wireless is renting the facility as an outside agency.
Vic: I don't have anything else. The school building insurance--I sent him some information, and we will meet next week.
[Blogger: The discussion with James Martin began at this point in the meeting (around 8:50, give or take a few minutes.) He left at 9:17, and public comment began.]
Public Comment
Terry Hronek: When you give zoning and other employees a badge, you can't necessarily roll up on private property if there is a No Trespassing sign. John Dickey got into a bit of a problem on that. Chris Meduri had to get involved in that.
Vic: I have had Pete Tosi talk to Chris Meduri about that.
Carole Pollard: The gist of my comment was that, in light of all that had gone on in this meeting, there was nothing that ought to be added to the proceedings.
Public Comment ended about 9:25. The weather had turned vile, and your faithful blogger came home.
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Trustees March 1--Some contention, lots of business
[Blogger Foreword: In spite of my intentions not to get tangled up in a lot of detail, this post grew beyond my intentions. There will be one more, presenting information and status about the task force working to develop an agreement with the trustees to have a community center at the school.]
Debbie Boop, from Kasmarik Insurance, and Sue Lilley, President, Blackbrook Conservancy District, were present and were put at the head of the agenda to follow the regular opening procedures.
Your usually faithful blogger missed the cemetery report.
Pete Tosi, Zoning Inspector, reported income from permits and applications of $540. In driving around, he has noticed a number of violations. Letters are going out this week.
There is going to be a meeting about a possible buyer for the Masonic Hall on John Edward Drive. The buyer's intention is to turn it into a dog training facility. This would raise a zoning issue. Vic added that it had been built in the '70's and should be in one of the main zoning books. Some research on the original regulations will be necessary.
Road Department: The guys were out dealing with the incoming weather. The backhoe is still at South Eastern Equipment. They delivered a loader [for salt, I believe] to the township today.
Jason said he had talked with the company, and they had finally gotten the backhoe to do what had been a problem for us. The part cost $40 and the labor $800.
Debbie Boop then discussed the insurance possibilities with the trustees. This was followup to the discussion about switching out of the Ohio Public Employees arrangement. She ran through the various plans, for which the trustees and fiscal officer had copies.
Vic: What do you need from us if we decide to transfer?
Answer: If the trustees do this, everything will be handled through Kasmarik. At present things are scattered.
The plan Debbie presented is a better value.
Sue Lilley (SL): Sue gave a picture of a hole to the trustees.
Vic: That was just reported to me today.
SL: I came in August and October and asked you to fix the culvert pipe that the township broke. [The repair was not done.] Now there are three residents who have water that they never had before.
[She addressed Vic directly on this.]
Vic: Every time I have spoken to them [road crew] they have not been able to come.
John Festa: The pipe has been cleaned out.
Sue wants it blocked.
SL: Right now you are cleaning out the mess you made.
Vic: It is right at the ditch that runs along Wayne Road. [He gave some history of it.]
SL: You told me you can not do anything for us.
[Blogger: At this point things got contentious, in my view.]
Vic: We have helped in the past. We have provided trucking, but that is all we can do.
Jason: Sometimes when residents say they are getting flooded, we get the soil and water conservation district involved.
SL: I have talked to them. They can not do much because we are a conservancy district. Legally there is nothing they can do.
JC: Soil and Water bring various maps and look at water flow and tell us what is needed in the area.
SL: For the township but not the conservancy.
JC: I can't say exactly what their functions are. I don't know if the culverts were engineered. When people build houses that changes water flow. It would be better to have an engineer determine this. If one resident wants it open and the other wants it closed, we have a problem.
SL: But we are flooding.
Vic: Do you think that is the main cause of the flooding?
SL: Apparently in the 70's it served a purpose. But now we have residents being flooded. I am asking you, you wrecked something--fix it. I have 500 acres that are going under water. We are getting more water on the west side than we ever did.
John Festa: Do you have paperwork about when it went in?
SL: Yes. FEMA has the record of it.
[My notes on this topic end here. It was 8:20 when this conversation ended.]
New Business
JF: Jodie sent me a copy of the Zoning Commission attendance for 2017. We have a vacancy, and many missed days and I think we need to fill the commission. We have put an ad in the paper last year and got no response.
To Sue Lilley: Are you still interested?
Answer: Yes.
The BZA now has a vacancy due to Kathy Kelley's retiring.
JF continuing: I am sure we will have some issues down the road and will need a full board.
#2: [I checked] the Record-Courier about an article. $75,000 is proposed for Mantua Township. The projects were for historic Mantua Township buildings.
He gave Pete Tosi some information from the Department of Commerce, which has jurisdiction over mobile homes, among other things.
A letter from the Portage County Health District announce a meeting on March 14. One of the trustees should go.
Another thing that has been discussed is having a badge ID of some kind for the zoning inspector, and Vic thought it would be good for the road crew to have ID badges as well.
Vic: Terry Hronek looked at the elevator the other day and 0we got the materials in.
I have someone about the roof on the Civic Center.
John Festa announced that he has sent out 30 invitations to bid; Chris Meduri has approved the legal notice for the paper. Pre-bid meeting will be on March 16 and bids will be opened on April 5.
Licensing Agreement, bull pen: Vic: I haven't heard back. They have both copies. I will give her a call tomorrow.
JF: The agreement is void if it is not signed by April 1. We are back to square 1.
Vic: She has it; I hand delivered it.
JF: Last--fire recall for the elevator. I called and talked to Matt Roosa who sent me a response saying that our agreement was to improve on what we have and not necessarily for a new system and not to forget to add the fire [?] switch.
JC: Did you have a conversation with the building department?
JF: No. Matt has the authority of jurisdiction. We went from $6,000 up to $15,000. I think we should only contract fopr the fire recall and not for the other things.
At this point, Frank Horack joined the discussion. This system was in the initial bid and then was taken out. I don't understand that. It should never have been taken out. That is another thing we need to ask. [I think there was more detail from him, but I do not understand the technical, electrical, and mechanical aspects of this project and did not take notes on those comments.]
Either Frank or John Festa said: I am very confused about a lot of things going on with that project.
Vic: Have you talked to Charles Cochran or Bill Ashton? [Building Department and fire safety equipment, respectively.]
JF: All Matt Roosa wanted was for you to upgrade what you have. [Matt has sent an e-mail about this to John Festa, who will follow up.]
I don't understand why this was in the original bid but was then taken out.
Vic had heard from Ashton, who said that the building department was requiring it.
JF: Now we are getting conflicting statements.
Frank Horack: On the first set of electrical and general prints made up for that project the prices came in too high for the estimates. They were canceled out. You can not re-bid unless there are new drawings. [Frank explained how this happened.] The second print had it changed. That set put the cost on the township. Ask the architect, Mr. "Zeets."
Frank went into the back and forth of how it all happened. That kind of detail is of interest only to those intimately involved with the project, in your blogger's opinion.
[Blogger: Frank calls John Zeit "Zeets" even though he has been told that John Zeit's name rhymes with "white." Upon reflecting on this part of the meeting, I ended up wondering whether Frank's purpose was to clarify the process or criticize John Zeit.]
[Note: This post has grown to some length, so I am going to end it here. There will be one more for this meeting, dealing with the status of the task force to develop a community center at the school and progress made on the agreement to do so.]
Debbie Boop, from Kasmarik Insurance, and Sue Lilley, President, Blackbrook Conservancy District, were present and were put at the head of the agenda to follow the regular opening procedures.
Your usually faithful blogger missed the cemetery report.
Pete Tosi, Zoning Inspector, reported income from permits and applications of $540. In driving around, he has noticed a number of violations. Letters are going out this week.
There is going to be a meeting about a possible buyer for the Masonic Hall on John Edward Drive. The buyer's intention is to turn it into a dog training facility. This would raise a zoning issue. Vic added that it had been built in the '70's and should be in one of the main zoning books. Some research on the original regulations will be necessary.
Road Department: The guys were out dealing with the incoming weather. The backhoe is still at South Eastern Equipment. They delivered a loader [for salt, I believe] to the township today.
Jason said he had talked with the company, and they had finally gotten the backhoe to do what had been a problem for us. The part cost $40 and the labor $800.
Debbie Boop then discussed the insurance possibilities with the trustees. This was followup to the discussion about switching out of the Ohio Public Employees arrangement. She ran through the various plans, for which the trustees and fiscal officer had copies.
Vic: What do you need from us if we decide to transfer?
Answer: If the trustees do this, everything will be handled through Kasmarik. At present things are scattered.
The plan Debbie presented is a better value.
Sue Lilley (SL): Sue gave a picture of a hole to the trustees.
Vic: That was just reported to me today.
SL: I came in August and October and asked you to fix the culvert pipe that the township broke. [The repair was not done.] Now there are three residents who have water that they never had before.
[She addressed Vic directly on this.]
Vic: Every time I have spoken to them [road crew] they have not been able to come.
John Festa: The pipe has been cleaned out.
Sue wants it blocked.
SL: Right now you are cleaning out the mess you made.
Vic: It is right at the ditch that runs along Wayne Road. [He gave some history of it.]
SL: You told me you can not do anything for us.
[Blogger: At this point things got contentious, in my view.]
Vic: We have helped in the past. We have provided trucking, but that is all we can do.
Jason: Sometimes when residents say they are getting flooded, we get the soil and water conservation district involved.
SL: I have talked to them. They can not do much because we are a conservancy district. Legally there is nothing they can do.
JC: Soil and Water bring various maps and look at water flow and tell us what is needed in the area.
SL: For the township but not the conservancy.
JC: I can't say exactly what their functions are. I don't know if the culverts were engineered. When people build houses that changes water flow. It would be better to have an engineer determine this. If one resident wants it open and the other wants it closed, we have a problem.
SL: But we are flooding.
Vic: Do you think that is the main cause of the flooding?
SL: Apparently in the 70's it served a purpose. But now we have residents being flooded. I am asking you, you wrecked something--fix it. I have 500 acres that are going under water. We are getting more water on the west side than we ever did.
John Festa: Do you have paperwork about when it went in?
SL: Yes. FEMA has the record of it.
[My notes on this topic end here. It was 8:20 when this conversation ended.]
New Business
JF: Jodie sent me a copy of the Zoning Commission attendance for 2017. We have a vacancy, and many missed days and I think we need to fill the commission. We have put an ad in the paper last year and got no response.
To Sue Lilley: Are you still interested?
Answer: Yes.
The BZA now has a vacancy due to Kathy Kelley's retiring.
JF continuing: I am sure we will have some issues down the road and will need a full board.
#2: [I checked] the Record-Courier about an article. $75,000 is proposed for Mantua Township. The projects were for historic Mantua Township buildings.
He gave Pete Tosi some information from the Department of Commerce, which has jurisdiction over mobile homes, among other things.
A letter from the Portage County Health District announce a meeting on March 14. One of the trustees should go.
Another thing that has been discussed is having a badge ID of some kind for the zoning inspector, and Vic thought it would be good for the road crew to have ID badges as well.
Vic: Terry Hronek looked at the elevator the other day and 0we got the materials in.
I have someone about the roof on the Civic Center.
John Festa announced that he has sent out 30 invitations to bid; Chris Meduri has approved the legal notice for the paper. Pre-bid meeting will be on March 16 and bids will be opened on April 5.
Licensing Agreement, bull pen: Vic: I haven't heard back. They have both copies. I will give her a call tomorrow.
JF: The agreement is void if it is not signed by April 1. We are back to square 1.
Vic: She has it; I hand delivered it.
JF: Last--fire recall for the elevator. I called and talked to Matt Roosa who sent me a response saying that our agreement was to improve on what we have and not necessarily for a new system and not to forget to add the fire [?] switch.
JC: Did you have a conversation with the building department?
JF: No. Matt has the authority of jurisdiction. We went from $6,000 up to $15,000. I think we should only contract fopr the fire recall and not for the other things.
At this point, Frank Horack joined the discussion. This system was in the initial bid and then was taken out. I don't understand that. It should never have been taken out. That is another thing we need to ask. [I think there was more detail from him, but I do not understand the technical, electrical, and mechanical aspects of this project and did not take notes on those comments.]
Either Frank or John Festa said: I am very confused about a lot of things going on with that project.
Vic: Have you talked to Charles Cochran or Bill Ashton? [Building Department and fire safety equipment, respectively.]
JF: All Matt Roosa wanted was for you to upgrade what you have. [Matt has sent an e-mail about this to John Festa, who will follow up.]
I don't understand why this was in the original bid but was then taken out.
Vic had heard from Ashton, who said that the building department was requiring it.
JF: Now we are getting conflicting statements.
Frank Horack: On the first set of electrical and general prints made up for that project the prices came in too high for the estimates. They were canceled out. You can not re-bid unless there are new drawings. [Frank explained how this happened.] The second print had it changed. That set put the cost on the township. Ask the architect, Mr. "Zeets."
Frank went into the back and forth of how it all happened. That kind of detail is of interest only to those intimately involved with the project, in your blogger's opinion.
[Blogger: Frank calls John Zeit "Zeets" even though he has been told that John Zeit's name rhymes with "white." Upon reflecting on this part of the meeting, I ended up wondering whether Frank's purpose was to clarify the process or criticize John Zeit.]
[Note: This post has grown to some length, so I am going to end it here. There will be one more for this meeting, dealing with the status of the task force to develop a community center at the school and progress made on the agreement to do so.]
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